"Imperial
Wars has exceeded my expectations. I knew when I read the design
document that it had the 'simple complexity' that always results in a great game, with exceptionally high re-playability and fun.
It is that and much more;"

EACH GAME CREATES a personalized and compelling experience that
can sometimes feel like living in a classic science
fiction story. Imperial Wars is an excellent way
to experience a visceral, satisfyingly long-term
science fiction adventure in a virtual stellar
empire. Anyone who enjoys speculative fiction
in any media will find a home in Imperial Wars.

AS ONE OF THE STARLORDS of the Second Empire and owner of a Homeworld, embark upon on
a journey into Galactic History through the recently discovered
Stargate.

IMPERIAL
WARS is more than a computer game, more
than a strategy game, more than a story and to
describe it as a role-playing game is too limiting.
It challenges players to create and manage empires
like some of the great classic sci-fi strategy
games but players are also challenged to develop
characters and exercise subtle diplomacy to fully
reach their character's potential. Each Starlord
character's growth depends upon the strengh and
knowledge of his or her allies.

PLAYERS will explore
and discover an ever expanding niverse with powerful
ancient artifacts and black holes and Imperial
Worlds and more. But more importantly each Starlord
will find other Starlords from the seven different
character classes inhabiting the universe. The
game space can become contentious and suspenseful.
The developing stories created by these interactions
will evoke honor, courage, fear, passion, defiance,
and often long lasting relationships, well beyond
the game. This is a game that can be re-played
again and again. Each game has a life and tempo
of its own as the tension mounts higher and the
endgame approaches.

AN IMPERIAL
WARS UNIVERSE consists 350 worlds connected
by Stargates and 300 fleet engines for moving
between these worlds, once these engines have
been populated with ships. 16 Players choose from
one of seven character classes and enter a unique
universe where they must communicate, negotiate,
team up with and compete with one another to maximize
their character attributes. Each player/character
in a game universe begins with a Home World, a
Stargate and five Star Engines, left from the
extinct Imperium. While there are ancient relics
and powerful jewels, NPC Rebels, Novas, Black
holes, Wormholes, Imperial Planets and many other
game objects, the true game imperative is to explore
this rich universe and discover the motivations
and opportunities the other Starlords offer. Players
are brought together as they meet each other in
the game through various e-mail and virtual connections
to build the diplomatic relationships and attitudes
that are keys to success.

THE SEVEN
STARLORD character types are at the heart
of the Imperial Wars experience. Each has different
objectives, attributes, and dynamics, each requiring
a different approach to successfully play the
game. Each unique Imperial Wars universe creates
a suspenseful, dramatic game experience that results
from the social interaction of these character
classes and their human counterparts.

STARSHIPS
RUMBLE AND FLASH across the screen and
worlds pulse with industry and population. Suns
explode and Jewels of Power and other artifacts
quicken as the each episode's game turn reveals
each world in the player's "known" universe.
Diplomatic messages from other players arrive
through special anonymous in-game e-mail accounts
or instant messenger. A starmap of each player's
"known" universe ties the worlds together.
When all moves are in or when the time limit is
exceeded, the unique IWars game engine moderates
the moves, updates the universe to create the
new episode and notifies all players through their
choice of communication, up to and including wireless.

IN THE WARROOM exists a persistent, virtual meta-game game space somewhere between
the game client and the Internet. Here avatars can see each other
online, meet, e-mail, and exchange game components like map filters,
information and strategies. Players within a game meet online
and share diplomatic game stratagems no matter where they are
in the world. Links from the player’s client to the Imperial
Wars bulletin boards allow players to post messages to a dedicated
Universe forum or to the rich Imperial Wars community at large.

WORLDS
in IMPERIAL WARS

Each
of the worlds in the Imperial Wars universe is connected
through ancient Star Gates to between 1 and 4 other
worlds. These connections form a network of 352
worlds which fleets, formed around another ancient
artifact, the interstellar engine can travel. The
immense distance between worlds has been eliminated
by travel on this pre-historical interstellar subway
through the old Empire's Star Gate connections.

Here
are some of Bruce Dean's Worlds that are on the
other side of these Stargates...

NORMAL
WORLDS

Many worlds have Population and Mines that can produce
Raw Materials. In factories they produce Imperial
Credits. Conquer them for fun and profit. Manage them
well and use the Imperial Credits they produce to
build up your fleets and worlds. Maybe you better
build some fortresses to protect them!

HOMEWORLDS

Every Starlord starts with one of these. Here you
are treated with the respect of your world's citizens.
But be careful! Don't let some greedy Raider take it
from from you. Only one to a customer...

IMPERIAL
WORLDS

These automated factory worlds from the old Empire
will sell to anyone with Imperial Credits. Here your
fleets can be outfitted with powerful attributes available
nowhere else. Now fleets can traverse the universe
with awe-inspiring weapons and defense mechanisms
not seen in the galaxy for millennia. Your technology
isn't near powerful enough to capture one of these
massive automated factory worlds so don't even try.

NOVAS

It's been a long time since anyone has been through
these Star Gates. A world's star could have gone Nova
during the thousands of years of the Interregnum.
A Star Gate could open into a raging stellar furnace.
Just one way to find out.

There
is a weapon at an Imperial World that will let you
create one of these out of the other worlds in the
IWars universe That might interest a Terminator!

BLACK
HOLES

Discontinuities in the Imperial Wars universe. Novas,
in time, become Black Holes. Going into one is easy.
But when and where do you come out? Is this your private
tunnel halfway across the universe?

WORM
HOLES

Worlds whose Stargates only go one way. Travelers
may find themselves in far unknown reaches of the galaxy.
So where do you want to go today?

Dead
Worlds

Not every world in the universe has population and
mines and factories. But, surprisingly even these
rocks, gas giants or watery worlds have a value to
an exploring Starlord.

STAR FLEETS AND SHIPS

THE FLEET ENGINE

Fleet Engines are represented by a Fleet symbol as shown to the right. These pieces of ancient of technology are matched to the ancient Stargates and the
way players move between worlds in an Imperial
Wars universe. Fleet engines alone have no value or mobility
and their ownership can't be protected until they have
ships attached to them. The combination of ship types
added to the fleet are what defines a fleets characteristics. These properties are Fleet Strength, Shield Strength, and how many Stargates
it can pass through per turn. A fleet can travel through Stargates no faster than the lowest rated ship in its complement.

SCOUTS

The Scout is the basic fleet
component. Though It has almost no offensive or defensive
strength it is the most important ship type. It's mainattributes are range of
movement and flexibility. Scouts can be Converted
to Probes monitoring neighboring worlds, world fortresses,
or Terminator robot missiles. They can caputre unowned fleets. They even are converted
into the ammunition of the dreaded Gravitonic Disruptor,
the Planet Destroyer!

Scouts
allow a fleet to move up to 4 worlds per move, but add only 1 to defense
and 0 to offensive strength and have no cargo space..

CRUISERS

Cruisers are the most
common ship on all players' fleets with the exception
of Traders who have no Cruisers but are the only Starlords who can own Freighters. These ships
are the best compromise between Cargo hauling capacity,
defensive strength, offensive firepower and range
of movement.

Cruisers
can move a fleet up to 3 worlds per move, and add 2 to fleet defense
and 2 to fleet defense. They can carry 1 raw material each.

FREIGHTERS

The Freighter is the backbone
of the Trader' fleets. Fully loaded Freighters
have a great advantage in cargo carrying capacity
but give up most offensive and defensive strength
to do so.

The
Trader's Freighters move similarly to the Cruiser
but can carry 2 raw materials. When fully loaded,
they are the most vulnerable ships on a fleet and
add 0 firepower.

BATTLESTARS

BattleStars are the behemoths
of the galaxy. They are slow, limited in range but
powerful and have special attributes for certain players.
They get the most offensive bang for the buck. They
can operate as Mobile Factories for a Trader and are
the required platform for the most feared weapon in
Imperial Wars, the Gravitonic Disruptor
Projector. The Warlord's Battlestars travel as fast
and as far as a Cruiser.

Only 2 worlds per move for all Starlords except Warlords, but they add 5 to offensive fleet
strength and 5 to defensive fleet strength. Add 1
point offense and defense for Warlord BattleStars
and 1 move world of movement.

ANCIENT GALACTIC ARTIFACTS

The Imperial Gems are game tokens. They have differing values, both positive
and negative, for the Characters who own them. The Old Relics of
the Empire have certain subtle powers in the universe
but also have value to their owners. The Jewels
of Power have powerful effects upon the
fleets and worlds where they reside.

IMPERIAL
RELICS - The ancient relics left scattered throughout the universe
are valued for their beauty and the power they have over
the minds of the denizens of the populated worlds. But only
certain characters can gain value from certain artifacts
depending upon their nature.

IMPERIAL
GEMS - It is rumored that the 149 lost gems from the Imperial Crown
Jewels were scattered through the Stargate of the ancient
Throne of The Worlds by a mad Emperor, near the beginning
of the Interregnum. Legend also has it that these gems were
gifts to the Empire by the ancient baronies of the Worldsraad.
Their heirs game subtle power from their possession.

THE
JEWELS OF POWER -
Of all the artifacts, the most powerful are those ancient
jewels fabricated by the Mathmatists of the Mensa Theliot.
Possessors of the jewels not only own these magnificent
pieces of artistry far beyond the craft and skill of the
current races but an awesome mystical force that can affect
entire worlds.

THE STARLORDS OF THE SECOND
EMPIRE

After
the assassination of Vasselius XXI, the last great Imperator
of the Meringalian Dynasty, the dissolution of the star-spanning
Terramonah Empire that he had ruled began. It took a hundred
years for the Six Sectors to break away from one another and
fifty more for the powerful Mensa Theliot Priesthood, the last
of the great political factions, to splinter. The schism of
the Mensa Theliots, the Priesthood of Science, and the resultant
loss of the technological secrets which had kept the gigantic
interstellar kingdom intact, insured the disintegration of the
failing Empire.During
the next two hundred years the Imperial Sector Wars devastated
hundreds of worlds as petty rulers tried to reestablish some
semblance of the great Empire. Without the ability to repair
the Imperial technology, "Empires" in the following
centuries became trivial 4 and 5 system confederations, well
on their way to barbarism. Nine centuries after the fall of
the Terramonah Empire, interstellar travel and the old Empire
were nothing but legends and myths on worlds where they were
remembered at all. Cultures that had once stretched across parsecs
had been hammered back to the stone age on a thousand planets.

But
in the dark night of the Interregnum tiny indomitable sparks
of intelligence and imagination flickered, banked and hidden.
Certain diverse races and cultures, using archaic fusion and
chemical propulsion, reached their satellites and companion
planets. There, some of them found the gigantic Stargates, a
terrible remnant and rumor of the dark night from which they
recently had emerged; and the indestructible interstellar engines
that would trigger the Stargates once ships to direct and power
them were put in place. Most recoiled with fear back to their
home planets, overwhelmed by the implications of a suddenly
discovered mythical technology. But sixteen of the most daring
cultures accepted the challenge of the stars and within a few
short years reached out to grasp their heritage. These sixteen
rough and ready interstellar pioneers began the renaissance
that would change the face of the galaxy. History has recorded
them as the Starlords of the Restoration, authors of the rebirth
of the Second Empire and...

...combatants of the Imperial Wars.

excerpt
Encyclopedia Galactica
The Restoration
The Expansion Wars

THE
DEATH OF THE IMPERIUM
AND HISTORY OF THE ARTIFACTS
GEMS, RELICS AND JEWELS OF POWER

During
the reign of the great Meringalian Dynasty, the final Dynastic
rulers of the First Imperium, the Terramonah Empire was divided
into six political sectors, known simply as the Six. Each of
the Six contended with one another and with the Mensa Theliot
Priesthood in seeking Imperial favor. As more and more power
swung between these political factions, it became increasingly
apparent to Emperor Vasselius XXI (R'Ameeyn Meringeli) that
to rule successfully required balancing one or another of the
seven powerful forces against one another. Vasselius contrived
to foment the natural antagonism that existed between the seven
forces to prevent alliances which could destroy the dynasty.
No longer did the long and implacable arm of the Emperor's Cyborg
Legions reach to all corners of the Empire as the Six Baronies
grew in power and influence. Perhaps the Emperor could no longer
rule without question but he could still rule by diversion and
division.

Vasselius
began his scheme by requesting that an Imperial Crown be designed.
The Emperor's Imperial Crown was to be set with seven sets of
seven different kinds of Gems, each set of seven, a dazzling
perfection of the rarest and most beautiful stones in the known
galaxy. These Gems were to be a gift of homage and fealty from
the Six and the Mensa Theliots. The seven factions would each
submit Gems of each of the seven kinds and they would be judged.
The resulting fierce competition brought the Emperor a number
of secret smiles and more time to consolidate his position.
History does not record a clear winner but that was likely a
part of Vasselius' policy.

Other
gifts, what we refer to now as the Imperial relics, each one
rivaling the next in expense, glamour and power followed the
gemstones as the Imperially stimulated competition grew. Vasselius
granted titles and worlds and favor to keep the Six, and particularly
the Priesthood, off balance and divided. Never, not even in
the time of Vasselius' grandfather, had there been more intrigue
in the Terramonah Empire and especially at the Imperial Throneworld
of Humm.

The
Emperor could not have foreseen that his machinations would
make him midwife to the birth of the deadly beauty and force
of the Jewels of Power, artifacts so compelling that their very
existence changed the course of history of the entire Empire.

The
first Jewel of Power was given to the Emperor by the Mensa Theliot
Priests. The Scientific Priesthood spent over 30 years in secret
laboratories and radiant baths developing the solid state technique
to set powers into a synthetic circuit shaped as a Jewel. For
the Imperial presentation, it was mounted in an amulet of Maussite,
cunningly wrought by the miniature jewel smiths of Amphidor.
It's beauty and perfection brought tears from the eyes of the
ladies and open mouths to the nobles of the Imperial Court.
The First Mathmatist of the Mensa Theliots basked in the envy
and bitterness that the Jewel inspired.

The
Jewel of Enchantment, as the first Jewel was known, was meant
specifically, as a slap in the face from the Priesthood to the
Arcturians, the most independent and powerful of the Six Terramonah
domains, as much as an Imperial gift. Recently, the Arcturian
Viceroy had demanded the right of Arcturian tax collectors to
collect the Imperial taxes in their own sector before they were
turned over to the Empire. Vasselius knew, of course, that a
huge percentage of these tax revenues would never find their
way into the Imperial coffers if this were allowed. As important,
the other members of the Six would see any wavering on such
an issue as a sign of weakness. At the least, they would immediately
move for the same rights in their sectors. Vasselius responded
with an arrogant disdain he was secretly not sure he could back
up. One Imperial BattleStar with one Cyborg Legion, a token
force, he decreed, would arrive in the Arcturian home system
within a year, at the normal tax collection time to enforce
collection by the Imperial tax collectors. One BattleStar was
hardly a powerful fleet but the Emperor would count on the hundreds
of years of Meringalian rule to overcome the insult to the Arcturians
this show of force represented.

The
gift of the Jewel of Enchantment from the Theliots arrived in
time to assure the power of Vasselius' gesture, as the Theliots
well knew. No one except Vasselius and the Mensa Theliot hierarchy
knew what power the Jewel of Enchantment represented until the
Arcturians attempted to storm the hated Imperial BattleStar.
The mystical Jewel, locked into a specially designed socket
on the battleship's bridge by a perspiring First Officer, froze
all hostile fire against the giant ship. Disconcerted boarding
crews found themselves unable to lock onto the impervious BattleStar.
The Arcturian navy itself was forced to destroy the attempted
boarding craft to provide a political excuse for the Arcturian
ambassador who, positioned for such an emergency, immediately
begged for Imperial audience back on Humm. He explained away
the intended use of force against a ship of the Imperium as
the work of insurgents. Vasselius, with an oily graciousness,
and in full view of the Imperial court, granted forgiveness
(along with hefty penalties) to the wayward sector. The Arcturians
were forced to accede humbly. The loss of face, particularly
for the stiff-necked Arcturians, was almost unbearable. The
Arcturians knew who to blame - the detestable Mensa Theliot
Priesthood.

A
hand picked Arcturian TAC force, sworn to suicide, and a renegade
priest penetrated the deepest laboratories of the Mensa Theliot
Temple on the sacred planet of Mitre. The ultimate theft of
the mystical technology used to make the Jewels cost the lives
of the entire 150 Imperially conditioned Arcturian warriors
(and the priest) and nearly a year of patient waiting while
four separate copies of the secret technology moved through
various Theliot channels. The superbly trained suicide squad
had not actually stolen the secrets but placed the papers and
machines in non-sensitive areas where the general movement of
papers and equipment could eventually be recovered through normal
covert operations. The Mensa Theliots, thinking they had foiled
the plot, actually only uncovered its top layer and became unwitting
accessories in the theft.

Within
ten years, using heretic Theliot priest-scientists and a previously
deposed Chief Mathmatist, the Arcturians were able to duplicate
the mystical science which created the first Jewel of Power.
Meanwhile, the Priesthood, whose star had risen to such favor
with the Emperor was fading. Vasselius now demanded more Jewels.
The Mensa Theliots were unwilling to provide them claiming that
no more could be fabricated. It was a satisfying coup for Rath
Woer-Halin, the Arcturian Viceroy to present a Jewel even more
powerful and breathtaking than the Jewel of Enchantment - the
Jewel of Protection, to Emperor Vasselius XXI with his compliments.
The Grand Council of Mathmatists of the Mensa Theliots had been
outfaced.

The
official history of the old Imperium ends not long after this
but we do know that others of the Six besides the Arcturians
acquired the knowledge stolen from the Mensa Theliot laboratories.
Various bits of information hint that the development of the
Jewels of Power continued. Vasselius, in an abortive attempt
to regain his great grandfather's iron grip over the Priesthood
and the Six interstellar domains, precipitated the disintegration
of the old Empire. It appears to us, thousands of years later,
that the Emperor believed the Jewels of Power he possessed and
the ancient force of the Cyborg Legions created a temporary
balance of power in his favor that would last long enough for
him to regain the Imperial domination for which the Meringalian
dynasty was known.

Legend
has it, now that history can no longer be depended upon, that
Vasselius instigated a revolt in Vega and began a campaign to
crush the weakest of the Six. The assassination of Emperor Vasselius
XXI by an exotic poison administered by a trusted courtesan
moved the Imperial Crown, somewhat shakily, to the head of the
Imperial Sisterson, the dynastic Beneficent X (R'Anselm Meringeli).
Young R'Anselm seems poor material to follow up the Imperial
dreams of Vasselius. The incestuous dynastic bloodline (son
of Vasselius' sister by his Grandfather) did nothing to inspire
confidence in his mental stability. After causing the Gems of
the Imperial Crown to be scattered through Humm's interstellar
Star Gates in a fit of pique and refusing to meet with any of
the envoys from the Six or the Grand Mathmatists of the Theliots
for over a year, the feuding Viceroys banded together against
the Imperium and the Theliots. The disintegration of the Empire
was assured.

The
Mensa Theliots cursed the Gems they had donated to the Emperor's
Crown in response to Beneficent's faux pas but near the end,
became the only ally of the Imperial throne. Most of the other
relics of the ancient Empire were scattered throughout the Empire
as it disintegrated. Seven Jewels of Power are rumored to have
surfaced at one time or another since the breakup of the old
Empire. The most powerful of these, and some say the most uncontrollable
was the Jewel of Fate - the last Jewel ever made, designed by
the devious priest-scientists of the Mensa Theliot.

In
later years, as interstellar travel revived, political power
often fell to the owners of the old Imperial Relics and Gems
through the legends and mysteries they represented - and always,
raw power to the owners of the legendary Jewels.